Build your own dining room table
Farmhouse table
One day when I found my husband in a particularly extra favorable mood I expressed to him my desire to build our own dining room table...
His reply, "You want to do what?". I told him it couldn't be that hard, other people have done it. And just because we have no skills, or tools whatsoever that shouldn't stand in our way. I was inspired by Ana White, who is this amazing woman that lives in Alaska and not only makes her own furniture but she and her husband have built their own home.
I purchased her book, "The Handbuilt Home: 34 Simple Stylish and Budget-Friendly Woodworking Projects for Every Room". Then I found the plans I wanted for our Farmhouse table on her website. Here's a link to the plans we used, they include a materials list:
We modified it just a smidgen. Since we had no tools, like saws for example, we merely brought all our measurements to our local home improvement store and they cut all the wood for us. Our materials cost us about $87!
It took us an afternoon to put together, and here it is...
We stained the table with Minwax wood stain in Jacobean. Then I applied two coats of Poly. I only really used poly on the table top, and left the legs just stained...I kinda liked that...
Our table measures 5 feet 6 inches long by 3 feet wide and comfortably seats six. And speaking of seating...
The Ladder back chairs were a real find, and I do mean find...like in the garbage. A girlfriend and I had come across them and carefully stuffed them into her brand new car's back seat! They were a bit dirty, but we breathed new life into them.
The four smaller chairs were a Craigslist find. The guy wanted $50 for all four, but I offered him $40. We settled on $45. They are older than dirt, and were already stripped for me. Thank you very much!
All I had to do was paint them with milk paint. I never used milk paint before, but how hard could it be? I never built a dining room table before either. After some research I settled on Real Milk paint in the color cream. I did two coats, then sanded where I felt it would look like the chair would have some naturally occurring worn spots.
So, there you have it! I knew we could do it. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But, it's ours. We worked on it together, no one else has one exactly like it and we Love it!
Total cost for table and chairs: $132, plus $11 for Milk paint
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